Overview
- The 39-year-old three-time Olympian collapsed while pacing a mile group at a Sir Walter Running Pop Up Miles event and was taken to a Raleigh hospital after on-site responders performed CPR and used an automated external defibrillator.
- Multiple outlets report she briefly had no pulse before rescuers restored circulation, with event organizers thanking bystanders, EMS and medical staff for their immediate response.
- Fleet Feet, Simpson’s employer, said she remains under medical care and has shown “encouraging improvement,” and the company’s CEO was at the hospital overnight until family arrived.
- Details about Simpson’s specific medical condition have not been released, and officials and family are withholding further clinical information as updates are awaited.
- Simpson is a decorated middle-distance runner — 2011 world champion and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist who retired from elite competition in 2024 — and the incident has sparked wide support from the running community and media.